Maryland sheriff says new state gun law violates 2nd Amendment

[gejoslin]

A Maryland sheriff has declared the state's new gun control law unconstitutional and is asking county officials to support selective enforcement of the measure.

The Cumberland Times-News reports that Garrett County Sheriff Robert Corley voiced his opposition to the law at Tuesday's county commissioners meeting and presented the panel with a resolution he says protects citizens' rights.

"I believe that the [Maryland Firearms Safety Act] violates the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution that clearly states, 'The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed,'" Corley was quoted as saying.


Read more: Maryland sheriff says new state gun law violates 2nd Amendment | Fox News

 

[JCliff]

Another one that will be interesting to watch and see how it turns out.

 

[ccwaz]

Selective enforcement is also unconstitutional. Either it's the law, or it isn't the law, and the law applies to everyone. That is precisely the reason this is a bad and unconstitutional law. The solution is to get rid of the bad law. The Sheriff's statement is a stop-gap measure at best. It would be better for him (and all sworn officers) to simply say, "I'm not going to enforce that law at all, because it's unconstitutional." State Laws are not allowed to contradict the Federal Constitution, and there is a system in place to challenge them when they do. We can hope that the courts will grant a stay against the enforcement of this unconstitutional law until the NRA and other cases are able to bring it down.

 

[Mike Wilburt]

Here's the part of this issue that, on the surface, appears to make no sense.
While there are sheriffs around the country making noise about new pending and passed gun restrictions, New York, Maryland and Colorado legislatures have passed bills which have raised the objections of the sheriffs in those states and the sheriffs in Colorado and New York, up to now, have been the most vocal.

The legislators in Albany, Denver and Annapolis are forgetting that those county sheriffs were elected by the very same people who put them in office.
But unlike the state legislators, the sheriffs are the most powerful elected official in each county. They are closer to the people than the state legislators could ever hope to be.
If their local authority and influence were wielded smartly, the sheriffs could be the most important factor in defeating anti-gun legislators.

Unfortunately, in general, the campaigns for sheriff are not funded at anywhere near the level of the state legislators. Because the sheriffs do not make law, they don't attract the attention of the big-donor corporations, lobbyists and individuals who stand to take advantage of laws and regulations written and voted on by the legislators.

The pro-gun folks who elected the sheriffs need to realize that their pro-gun votes are being betrayed in the state houses.
It shows how the campaigns manipulate the voters. The people are pro-gun and elect a pro-2A sheriff. The sheriff is a guy they see in their county. They see his deputies on the street and in the courtrooms.
But through the phoniness of the campaigns, and support of a sympathetic media, those pro-gun voters also elect legislators who are anti-gun or don't have the spine to stand in support of their convictions.

This is a huge disconnect that, if re-connected, could dramatically change the tone in the state houses.
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